We often refer to artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality (XR), and blockchain (just to name a few) as emerging technologies. But the truth is, these technologies have been around for years. But we’re just now figuring out how to tap into their full potential— particularly when it comes to learning and development (L&D). So perhaps “evolving technologies” might be a more accurate moniker as tech and its applications seem to level up at warp speed these days.
With more and more L&D professionals diving into using AI in training content creation and instructional design, we wanted to find out what other A I applications and additional training tech trends might be on the horizon. So we reached out to six technology experts to check their crystal balls and help you imagine the possibilities while sidestepping potential pitfalls.
PERSONALIZED AI COACHES
Anders Gronstedt, president of The Gronstedt Group, believes the powerful convergence of X R and AI will drive 10x improvements in learning and business performance in the next three to hve years. “X R ’s immersive simulations are poised to revolutionize skill development as learners move seamlessly in the flow of work to pixelated practice spaces that mirror their real-life workplaces, where they accelerate proficiency through hands-on practice, with personalized feedback and unlimited do-overs,” he predicts. “However, this potential can only be realized if Learning leaders seize the opportunity to make strategic investments and reimagine the learning process from classrooms and eLearning to performance simulators and AI assistants in the flow of work.”
In that vein, Yulia Barnakova, an emerging tech strategist at Accenture and Training’s “What the Tech?” columnist, sees AI coaching/searching/learning becoming as common as “Googling” and taking electronic performance support to the next level. “AI coaches can provide bite-sized, just-in-time, hyper-personalized learning ‘ in your pocket,’” she says, pointing to Coach Kate from the Experience Accelerator, a mindset coach for new graduates, as an example (see https://trainingmag.com/the-new-generation-of-ai-coaches/). “Our most leading-edge clients are creating hybrid, cross-reality, personalized learning journeys that incorporate digital courses, live instruction, and virtual reality exploration—all facilitated by AI/human coaching along the way.”
Karl Kapp, director of the Institute for Interactive Technologies at Bloomsburg University, agrees, predicting that ultimately, the basic foundational knowledge for most organizations will be designed, developed, and delivered with AI. “A library of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), company procedures, rules, and regulations will be created, and then AI will generate content or serve as an AI guide and will replace much of
compliance and safety training,” he says. “Almost everyone in an organization in whatever role will have some type of AI assistant, which will provide feedback, advice, practice opportunities, and information on demand. There will be fewer courses and more AI coaching.”
In addition, combining AI avatars with chatbot functionality means an experience such as a branching scenario can be almost fully free form, where the learner and the AI instruction can have a conversation without pre-scripting specific responses, and the dialogue will seem natural and be an excellent rehearsal for certain job skills, Kapp says. “This will give designers the ability to make video-based training with branching scenarios seem more like movies.”
Learning design expert and Training’s Innovations in Training Test Kitchen Head Chef Phylise Banner says her crystal ball may be a bit more sparkly than some (as she admits she does tend to chase “shiny objects”), but mentions these three L&D-related technologies as being on her radar:
Neural-Linked Skill Acquisition: Utilizing braincomputer interface technologies, trainees can accelerate learning by directly interfacing with AI systems that help optimize neural pathways associated with specihc skills. While still in its early stages, Banner says, “this technology shows promise in drastically reducing training time for complex motor and cognitive tasks.”
Holographic Mentorship Platforms: Such platforms can transform remote mentorship and collaboration as employees interact with lifesize, three-dimensional projections of experts and trainers from anywhere in the world. “These holographic mentors can demonstrate intricate procedures, provide real-time feedback, and even manipulate virtual objects in the learner’s environment, bridging the gap between physical and digital learning spaces,” Banner says.
Emotion-Adaptive Learning Ecosystems: Nextgeneration AI systems are beginning to incorporate advanced emotion recognition and response capabilities. “These platforms continuously analyze learners’ emotional states through facial expressions, voice tonality, and biometric data,” Banner explains. “The training content, pace, and difficulty dynamically adjust not just to cognitive performance, but also to emotional engagement and stress levels. This ensures optimal learning conditions and helps prevent burnout by providing personalized support and breaks when needed.”
HUMACHINE INTERFACES
Tony O’Driscoll, Academic director at Duke University and Training’s Learning Matters columnist, thinks the future will see the creation of “humachine” interfaces that allow each form of intelligence— human and machine— to lean in to what they do best that the other entity cannot do, in order to drive more beneficial outcomes for humanity. “Three to five years from now, everyone will have a personal assistant that offloads much of the mundane and routine activities we engage in today (e-mail replies, meetings, calendaring, research, etc.), allowing their carbonbased life form partners to do what they do best: imagine, create, and play ‘what if?’” he says.
Echoing O ’Driscoll’s point, David Metcalf, director o f the Mixed Emerging Technology Integration Lab at the University of Central Florida, says that beyond the technology, “the need for critical thinking, trust, and empathy will hopefully drive the best o f human and machine interaction— even to the point of creating AI super teams as we enter a ‘Transhumanism’ era that features the best of high-tech and high-touch without losing our humanity.”
For training designers, developers, facilitators, and managers, AI will serve as an amplifier o f their capabilities, allowing them to concentrate on areas where human touch is irreplaceable, Banner believes. “For instance, we’ll be able to dedicate more time and energy to nurturing complex, higher-order skills that demand nuanced judgment and draw upon our lived experiences,” she says. “These are the skills that often make the difference in critical decision-making and innovation.”
As such, she says, “ L&D professionals will focus more on providing the emotional support and motivation learners need to persevere through challenges and celebrate their achievements. This human-to-human interaction fosters a sense o f belonging and purpose that AI simply cannot replicate— yet.”
AVOIDING POTENTIAL PITFALLS
Technology certainly can bring tremendous benefits, but by its very nature, it also can require transformative change on the parts of the organization as a whole, the L&D function in particular, and the learners themselves. So it’s vital to carefully analyze the potential impacts and hidden costs new technologies may produce. Banner notes these may include the risk of leaving behind learners who can’t keep pace, putting learners with disabilities at an increasing disadvantage, leaving learner data unprotected, and overloading learners with a dizzying array of platforms and interfaces.
Be careful when incorporating new technology that the added efficiency is not overshadowed by a worse user experience, Barnakova cautions. “For example, we currently are experimenting with using AI avatars vs. real actors for select scenario-based learning. While the (massive) efficiency gains are often worth it for more standard/ procedural training, more sensitive topics such as challenging conversations that require paying attention to body language/facial expressions fall flat with any hint of uncanniness.”
Also, beware of falling prey to the routinization trap where radically new technologies such as virtual, augmented, and extended reality and generative AI are applied by the L&D profession to automate past, bad assumptions, O’Driscoll stresses. “Each of these technologies needs to be tracked and monitored to understand the core new capabilities they enable. Then we need to understand how these new capabilities can be leveraged in new and revolutionary ways. If the L&D profession applies these disruptive technologies to simply speed up the ADDIE (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement, and Evaluate) model to create traditional classroom-based learning interventions, we will be left behind.”
Another pitfall is chasing the tech and ignoring the need to solve a real problem, Kapp says. “Don’t think of AI as a solution, for example, think of AI-powered coaching as a solution or AI-assisted content creation, rather thanjust AI.”
And don’t get stuck in “pilot purgatory,” Gronstedt adds. “Many organizations experiment with smallscale pilots that are too limited and lack the innovation needed to make a real impact on learning and performance. Without a clear plan for evaluation and scaling enterprise- wide, new tech will never add business value.”
Make sure to test out the technologies rather than trusting the marketing or hype cycle, Metcalf emphasizes. “Good trend spotting includes evaluating whether the technology works as advertised, but also beginning with and keeping in mind the ultimate learning and business value o f every solution under consideration.”
KEEPING UP WITH TECH
Sometimes it seems like technology is evolving so quickly, it’s impossible to keep up with all the changes and new “shiny objects.” So what’s an L&D professional to do?
All Learning professionals need to experiment with tech in their personal and professional lives, Gronstedt stresses. “Training leaders should spend time each week using XR headsets, playing games and learning skills, and integrating generative AI into their daily tasks. This will help you understand the practical applications of these technologies.”
Getting your hands dirty with tech is critical, Barnakova agrees. Even if tools and technologies are not yet officially approved to use, she says, try them on your own time to better understand their opportunities and limitations hrst-hand.
Banner recommends establishing an internal innovation team dedicated to exploring new tools and technologies. “This creates a dedicated space for experimentation and learning (and failure) within the organization, as well as helping the teams understand how these tools and technologies might integrate with existing systems and processes,” she says.
In addition to following the technology providers you work with via newsletters, social media, or customer briehngs to stay current on new features and emerging use cases, Gronstedt suggests collaborating with leading technology partners to pilot new tools and platforms.
One caveat: Don’t be afraid to try new things, Metcalf advises, but also lean on your past experience in both development and learning science. “Some of the timeless, proven principles of learning theory are only just now able to be realized with a new generation of learning tools.”
For more on this topic, check out this on-demand Training Magazine Network Webinar, “AI Cans of Worms: 4 Visionaries on the State & Future of AI and Spatial Learning”: https://www.trainingmagnetwork.com/events/3741
CASE STUDY: PERSONALIZED AI-POWERED COACHING
By Karl Kapp, Director, Institute for Interactive Technologies, Bloomsburg University
A global hospitality company sought to improve sales conversions and customer satisfaction by boosting enrollments in its rewards program. Its dispersed customer service and sales (CSS) representatives faced challenges in consistently promoting the program and maintaining high customer service standards. Inconsistent performance metrics and difficulties in delivering timely updates to outsourced teams further compounded the problem. To address these issues, the company needed a scalable, personalized coaching solution that could engage and motivate its CSS reps while providing continuous support.
The new VP of Learning and Development and the Global VP of Operations decided to implement an AI-powered coaching tool from Centrical. This tool offered a gamified approach to performance metrics, linking personalized coaching to employee performance. The solution integrated with existing software to provide real-time performance data, transforming traditional training content into interactive microlearning modules. The AI-driven tool nudged CSS reps toward their goals, tracked their progress, and provided personalized training based on performance gaps.
As a result of the program, over six months, the company saw an 8
percent increase in both customer satisfaction and loyalty program
enrollments, and a 14 percent increase in premium sales conversions
The success of the pilot led to plans for a company-wide rollout.
CASE STUDY: SELF-PACED SIMULATIONS
By Anders Gronstedt, President, The Gronstedt Group
Congestion and delays in the training pipelines cost the U.S. Navy $400 million annually, according to Navy Personnel Command analysis, and skills acquired in a one-and-done classroom event decay rapidly.
We’ve been assisting the U.S. Navy in its transformation from bringing sailors to classrooms to bringing the training directly to sailors in the fleet, allowing them to build muscle memory and cognitive mastery through repeated immersive practice sessions at the point of need. Our selfpaced simulations can be accessed on cost-effective handheld gaming PCs and stand-alone virtual reality (VR) headsets, making it easily deployable on ships.
User testers have given the VR program perfect scores. We’re now scaling up for a larger deployment across the fleet and measuring its efficiency.
CASE STUDY: SIMPLE AS ABC
By David Metcalf, Director, Mixed Emerging Technology Integration Lab, University of Central Florida
A wise Army Colonel came to our lab at the University of Central Florida, looked at all the work we were doing in learning systems integration, and said, “You need to simplify, because for the next 15 to 20 years you’re going to be working on three things as simple as ABC: AI, Blockchain, Cybersecurity (post-quantum).”
It seems that every project we have taken on since then has had some element of this learning enterprise infrastructure: AI for knowledge and process acceleration; blockchain for trusted, immutable records such as transcripts and learning plans; and next-generation cybersecurity as a baseline for protecting valuable knowledge and data.
Through the use of tools such as ChatGPT, one of our technical artists was able to augment his developer skill set to improve the architectural design in one of our Unity game engine projects to reduce load times and optimize performance from 45 seconds to 8 seconds. He was able to do this on his own in hours rather than troubleshoot collaboratively with our core development team over multiple days.
CASE STUDY: DIGITAL DIALYSIS MACHINE
By Accenture
DaVita Inc. partnered with us at Accenture to create a hyper-realistic virtual dialysis machine to train clinicians on the 47 steps needed to set up a physical dialysis machine (a process called stringing). An Accenture team composed of designers, user experience (UX) experts, and metaverse specialists collaborated with clinical experts from DaVita to itemize each step, using existing training videos, detailed policies, and procedures.
After just 12 weeks, what resulted was a virtual to-scale model of the machine as it appears in the clinic, with all the appropriate wires, saline bags, pH testing kits, and other attachments. The model— which users experience via a virtual reality headset—allows trainees to build muscle memory of the movements required to string the machine, because they’re moving in the exact same way they would on the clinic floor.
DaVita began piloting the virtual training program with about 50 trainees and is measuring its success in three primary categories: experience, proficiency, and efficiency. Early indications from the pilot are that the program boosts all three.
CASE STUDY: VR BANKING COURSE
Ent Credit Union, a financial institution in Colorado, recognized the need to engage team members using alternatives to its traditional training methods that failed to fully immerse employees or translate theoretical knowledge into practical skills.
To provide a practical application of real-world scenarios that would help build confidence for member-facing team members, Ent Credit Union collaborated with virtual reality (VR) technology provider Aequilibrium. The goal was to create an interactive VR training experience that would simulate realistic banking scenarios, enabling front-line employees to practice their skills in a controlled, risk-free environment.
The VR training module included handling routine member inquiries, navigating complex financial consultations, and managing sensitive situations such as conflict resolution. The program was designed with goal-oriented scenarios that progressively increased in difficulty, helping employees build competence and confidence. Ent Credit Union conducted a pilot phase where a select group of employees tested the VR training module. Feedback from this phase was used to refine the program, enhancing its realism and interactivity. Following the successful pilot, the VR training was integrated into existing training.
In post-training surveys, 73 percent of employees reported increased confidence, 82 percent noted better information retention, and 100 percent said they preferred VR over traditional role-playing methods.
